Emily Osment is a Hannah Montana kid no more. While the actress (sister to Sixth Sense wunderkind Haley Joel Osment) got her start alongside Miley Cyrus in the hit musical Disney phenomenon, she has grown above and beyond that, notably in the moving and timely film Cyberbully.
“That was an interesting experience,” Emily remembers. “It was a very hard few months—very intense, but it was worth it. There were a lot of tears on set every day!” This only contributed to her raw and authentic portrayal of Taylor, the victim of this new meaner form of bullying. When asked about how she prepares for the more emotional work, she shares: “There’s a lot of different ways I can get there, and a lot of it is just research and being prepared. A lot of the time, music helps.”
Now, Emily is leading the cast in Young and Hungry, a fun new series on ABC Family, “which is great since I’ve worked with them in the past. I’m excited to be back!” On the show she plays Gabi, “a young girl living in San Francisco, whose ultimate dream is to become a very famous chef.” Osment goes on to explain that even though she lands a dream job, things don’t quite work out so smoothly, and Gabi wonders if she’s cut out for the chef life at all. And that’s just it—the fact that the main character second-guesses herself is what makes her so relatable.
“This is a very unique show, about a very normal girl with very big aspirations,” Emily points out. “She’s not the most popular, she’s not the most well rounded, and she messes up a lot. It’s easy to find characters on TV who are perfect, have it together, are beautiful with everything going their way, but with Gabi, she’s just a mess, she doesn’t know what she’s doing – she’s learning her way. I think that’s something that a lot of girls can really relate to.”
When asked to reflect on her Hannah Montana years, Osment states, “I’m very happy that I had that experience – it was 5 years of being on a constant learning curve; it’s definitely prepared me for what I’m doing now!” Looking forward, she also hopes to return to the big screen (after 2009’s Hannah Montana: The Movie). “I would love to do something bigger – film is always where I wanted to end up. It’s impossible to not dream bigger!”
We couldn’t agree more.